Portable tank and shell

ABSTRACT

A portable tank and tank shell are provided and includes a plurality of curved upright panels arranged in end-to-end relation to form a generally circular enclosure. The ends of the panels are releasably connected together by inserting an interlocking member into engagement with parts on the ends of the panels. The panels have an inturned flange near or at their lower edge which is adapted to set on a surface on which the tank is to be erected. This flange serves to hold the configuration of the panels in a rigid curve and the weight of the liquid in the tank acts downwardly on the flange to help hold the panels in place and to generally strengthen the structure. Also, the flange at one end of a panel overlaps the flange on an adjacent panel to facilitate making the connection between the panels. The tank shell thus provided can be lined with a plastic flexible sheet liner. Preferably one end of each panel is provided with a lip which overlies the joint between the panels to maintain the liner out of contact with the joint.

United States Patent 11 1 Levens 1 PORTABLE TANK AND SHELL [76]Inventor: Freer T. Levens, 2011 Winfield Rd,

Midland, Tex. 79701 22 Filed: Aug. 2, 1972 211 Appl. No.: 277,302

[52] US. Cl. 220/5 A, 4/172. 19, 220/1 B, 220/4 F [51] Int. Cl E04h3/18, B65d 7/02 [58] Field of Search 220/] B, 63 R, 63 A, 5 A, 220/5 R,80, 85 S, 4 T, 7; 4/172, 172.19

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,839,762 6/1958 Nomura220/5 A 2,861,277 11/1958 Hermann 220/5 A 2,919,045 12/1959 Waugh et a1.220/4 F 3,648,303 3/1972 Stewart et a1 4/l72.l9 3,736,599 6/1973 Kessleret a1. 4/l72.l9

Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Assistant Examiner.l0seph MoyAttorney, Agent, or FirmW. F. Hyer; Marvin B. Eickenroht m1 3,819,079 11 June 25, 1974 [5 7 '1 ABSTRACT A portable tank and tank shell areprovided and includes a plurality of curved upright panels arranged inend-to-end relation to form a generally circular enclosure. The ends ofthe panels are releasably connected together by inserting aninterlocking member into engagement with parts on the ends of thepanels. The panels have an intumed flange near or at their lower edgewhich is adapted to set on a surface on which the tank is to be erected.This flange serves to hold the configuration of the panels in a rigidcurve and the weight of the liquid in the tank acts downwardly on theflange to help hold the panels in place and to generally strengthen thestructure. Also, the flange at one end of a panel overlaps the flange onan adjacent panel to facilitate making the connection between thepanels. The tank shell thus provided can be lined with a plasticflexible sheet liner. Preferably one end of each panel is provided witha lip which overlies the joint between the panels to maintain the linerout of contact with the joint.

5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEB JUHZ S I974 SHEET 2 BF 2 1 PORTABLETANK AND SHELL This invention relates to a modular portable tank shelland tank which can be quickly and easily erected and dismantled. In oneof its aspects, it relates to such a tank which is especially adapted tocontain corrosive liquids, such as salt water brine.

The temporary storage of salt water brine has been a substantial problemto the oil industry. In some areas,

especially in West Texas, the salt water brine is used as the majorcomponent of the drilling fluid. The brine is extremely corrosive toordinary steel tanks and it must be carefully controlled to prevent itfrom escaping and damaging vegetation and fresh water sources. Drillingcontractors have employed two primary ways of coping with this problem.One way has been to use bulldozers to dig an open pit which is thenlined with a plastic sheet to prevent seepage of the salt brine into thesoil. The other way has been to use plastic coated bolted steel tanks.When the drilling rig is moved from one location to a new location, itis necessary to either dig and line a new pit or to move the plasticcoated tanks. In many cases, the tanks mustbe dismantled, trucked to thenew location and re-erected. Thus, both systems are expensive to use andthe life of the bolted steel tanks is dependent upon the integrity ofthe plastic coating and, at best, is far from satisfactory.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a modularportable tank shell andtank which can be easily and quickly dismantled,moved to a new location and re-erected using a minimum of labor and sitepreparation.

Another object is to provide such a shell or tank which can be erectedor dismantled by unskilled labor in a minimum of time and without havingto take any special precautions to maintain the integrity of a plasticcoating is necessary when moving plastic coated steel bolted tanks.

Other objects advantages and features of the invention will be apparentto one skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification, theclaims and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the tankof this invention;

FIG. 2'is an exploded view of adjacent ends of two panels which formpart of the tank shell;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the shell taken at the joint between twoadjacent panels; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views taken on the lines 4-4 and 55 of FIG. 1,respectively.

The tank shell is comprised of a plurality of panels which are curved sothat when in erected position, they form a generally circular enclosure.The panels are imperforate in the sense that their inner surfacesprovide a continuous backup for a flexible plastic liner describedbelow. The panels are made of a plastic material, such as conventionalfiber glass reinforced plastic, which in itself is resistant to attachby brine or salt water. The number of panels can vary. Preferably theyshould be as long as possible to reduce their number consistent with notbeing too heavy for manual handling or so long as to present problems intransporting them on a flat bed truck or the like.

Means are provided for releasably engaging adjacent ends of the panelsand as shown in the drawings, these include tubular portions 11 and 12relatively vertically spaced so that they can intermesh as indicated inFIG.

1. When so intermeshed, an interlocking member, here shown as a bar orrod 13, can be passed down through the tubular portions to form theconnection between the panels.

Each panel is provided with an inturned flange 14 fixedly and rigidlyconnected near or adjacent to their lower edges so as to set upon thesurface on which the tank is erected. The flanges are constructed sothat an end portion 14a on one panel overlies or overlaps an end portion14b on an adjacent panel. The flanges preferably also have a reinforcingridge 14c extending along their innermost edge. With this construction,it can be seen that the flanges hold the panels in a rigid curvedconfiguration. This assures that the tank, when erected, will have acircular configuration with resultant relatively uniform distribution ofhoop stresses around the tank. Also, when the tank shell is dismantled,the panels can be stacked in nested relation one on the other on atrailer, lashed down and transported without causing excessive flexureand even permanent deformation and cracking of the lowermost panels bythe weight of the uppermost panels resting thereon. Moreover, the weightof the liquid in the tank acts downwardly on the flanges to moresecurely hold the panels in place.

The overlapping of the ends of the flanges facilitates erection of theshell. Thus the panel with overlapping portion 14a can be slid endwiseinto position with all or a portion of its weight at the end to bejoined resting on flange portion 14b. This permits the panel to betapped or nudged into exact alignment with the other panel without aworker having to support its weight during alignment and furtherfacilitates installation of the rod 13 after the ends have been alignedin that the ends will not accidentally move out of alignment while therod is being slid into place.

As indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the panels have a lip 15 at oneend extending to overlie the joint between the ends of the panels on theinterior thereof. Hence when the sheet of plastic liner is installed,the lip will maintain the liner out of contact with the joint andprovide a smoother backup for the sheet than would the hinge itself.Also, the lip protects the liner from possible vandalism such as bysomeone pushing a knife through the hinged joint in an effort to cut theliner.

As indicated, after the shell is erected, a unitary sheet 16 of aplastic liner is installed in such a way that liquid in the tank cancause the liner to conform with the interior of the shell and thesurface on which the tank is sitting without excessively stressing theliner. The upper edge of the liner can be folded over the upper edge ofthe shell and held in place by any suitable means such as a wire 17.

Prior to installing the plastic sheet, it is preferable to install aground pad 18 which extends across the entire interior of the enclosureand overlies the flanges on the panels. This pad can be strips of tarpaper or the like and serves to protect the liner from sharp stones,sticks or the like which were not removed during site preparation.Therefore the only site preparation that is usually involved is removingmajor vegetation and raking to remove large rocks, stones and branches.

From the foregoing description of one embodiment of this invention byway of example, it will be seen that this invention is one well adaptedto attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, togetherwith other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to theapparatus.

The invention having been described, what is claimed l. A modularportable tank shell adapted to be lined with a plastic sheet comprising:a plurality of upright curved generally imperforate panels arranged inendto-end relation to form a generally circular enclosure,

a plurality of interlocking members, said panels each the ends of thepanels on the interior of the panels so that when a plastic sheet lineris installed in the shell, the liner will be maintained out of contactwith said joint.

2. The shell of claim 1 wherein said interlocking members are bars andsaid panel portions are tubular to receive one of said bars therein toform a hinge joint between the panels.

3. The shell of claim 1 in combination with a flexible plastic linerinstalled in said shell.

4. The shell of claim 3 wherein a flexible ground pad underlies theplastic liner on the interior of the enclosure and extends to overliethe flanges on said panels.

5. The shell of claim 1 wherein the flanges on said panels have areinforcing ridge adjacent the innermost edge thereof.

1. A modular portable tank shell adapted to be lined with a plasticsheet comprising: a plurality of upright curved generally imperforatepanels arranged in end-to-end relation to form a generally circularenclosure, a plurality of interlocking members, said panels each havingportions at their ends releasably engaging one of said interlockingmembers to form a connection between adjacent ends of said panels at thejoint therebetween, each of said panels having an inturned flangefixedly and rigidly connected thereto adjacent its lower edge andadapted to set upon a surface on which the tank is to be erected, theflanges on adjacent panels having an overlapping relationship to eachother adjacent the ends of the panels, each of said panels having a lipat one end extending to overlie the joint between the ends of the panelson the interior of the panels so that when a plastic sheet liner isinstalled in the shell, the liner will be maintained out of contact withsaid joint.
 2. The shell of claim 1 wherein said interlocking membersare bars and said panel portions are tubular to receive one of said barstherein to form a hinge joint between the panels.
 3. The shell of claim1 in combination with a flexible plastic liner installed in said shell.4. The shell of claim 3 wherein a flexible ground pad underlies theplastic liner on the interior of the enclosure and extends to overliethe flanges on said panels.
 5. The shell of claim 1 wherein the flangeson said panels have a reinforcing ridge adjacent the innermost edgethereof.